CNN Democratic debate preview

Since the Democrats had the chance debate twice but chose to do so only once so far, tonight’s debate from New Hampshire should be interesting:

CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider said Democrats, save one, must differentiate themselves when they square off Sunday in the Democratic debate.

“All the candidates — except Hillary Clinton — have to try to shake up this race,” he said. “They need to say something that gets Democrats to look at them fresh and say, ‘Well now isn’t that interesting? I didn’t know that about this candidate.’

“That means calling attention to your own strength or your opponent’s weakness. In a field this crowded, candidates need an arresting sound bite — something that will get played on the news over and over again, so that millions of people who did not see the debate will see the clip or hear about it. And take another look at the race.”

I’m betting Obama will have fine tuned his performance for this round to appear stronger on the security issues. Edwards will be his jovial socialist self advocating defeat in Iraq and socialized everything from the government.

Perhaps, if we’re lucky, there will be a softball question about global warming and climate change in which the Dems can take turns bashing carbon footprints.

Also, look for some disgust with President Bush. Last time Bush was hoisted in the center of the stage and each candidate took a turn nailing him like a piÃ±ata. Undoubtedly we’ll hear that Bush lied, Iraq is a mess, and Karl Rove is the devil.